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The Crickets
| past_members = Buddy Holly Jerry Allison Joe B. Mauldin Earl Sinks Jerry Naylor Niki Sullivan Sonny Curtis Tommy Allsup Glen Hardin | notable_instruments = }} The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in 1957, was a number-one hit single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on September 23. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band lineup at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums lineup and the talent to write most of their own material. After Holly's death in 1959 the band continued to tour and record with other band members into the 21st century. History Formation Holly had been making demo recordings with local musician friends since 1954. Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, and Larry Welborn participated in these sessions. In 1956 Holly's band, then known informally as Buddy and the Two Tones (Holly with Sonny Curtis and Don Guess; posthumous releases refer to the Three Tunes), recorded an album's worth of rockabilly numbers in Nashville, Tennessee, for Decca; the records were no more than mildly successful, and the band did not hit financial success until 1957, when the producer and recording engineer Norman Petty recorded Holly's sessions in Clovis, New Mexico. Holly had already recorded for another label under his own name, so to avoid legal problems he needed a new name for his group. As the Crickets recalled in John Goldrosen's book The Buddy Holly Story, they were inspired by other groups named after birds. They were then considering insect-centered names, apparently unaware of the Bronx R&B vocal group the Crickets, who recorded for Jay-Dee. They almost chose the name Beetles; years later, the Beatles chose their name partly in homage to the Crickets. The Crickets were lead guitarist and vocalist Buddy Holly, drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin, and rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan. Sullivan dropped out after a little more than one year to resume his education. The Crickets, now a trio, continued to make stage and TV appearances and recorded more songs, many composed by the band members. Early success In 1957 Norman Petty arranged for the Crickets' recordings to be marketed under two separate names. The solo vocals were released as being by Buddy Holly, and the songs with dubbed backing vocals were issued as being by the Crickets. Petty reasoned correctly that disc jockeys might be reluctant to program a single artist too heavily but would play records by two seemingly different groups. Some disc jockeys referred to the band as "Buddy Holly and the Crickets", but record labels never used this wording until after Holly's death. In 1958, Holly broke with producer Petty and moved to New York to be more involved with the publishing and recording businesses. Allison and Mauldin chose not to move and returned to Lubbock. Holly now recorded under his own name with the studio musicians Tommy Allsup and Carl Bunch. Waylon Jennings toured with him shortly after the Crickets folded. Allison and Mauldin looked forward to rejoining Holly after he returned from a winter tour through the northern Midwest. In the meantime, Mauldin, Allison, and Sonny Curtis (a friend and collaborator of Holly's) began recording new songs as the Crickets, with vocals by Earl Sinks. While they were recording, it was announced that Holly had died in a plane crash while on tour. After Holly's death , Jerry Allison, Glen Hardin, Jerry Naylor]] The Crickets, now with vocalist Earl Sinks, went on performing after Holly's death. David Box, a native of Lubbock, Texas, who sang in a manner similar to Holly, joined the group as lead vocalist for their 1960 single "Dont Cha Know"/"Peggy Sue Got Married", released as Coral 62238 after the departure of Sinks. Curtis was not in the band at the time, as he was completing military service. Box, who had left the group in 1960, died in a charter plane crash on October 23, 1964, while touring as a solo singer. In April 1960 the Crickets backed the Everly Brothers on their first UK concert tour but were not billed as their backing group. By 1962, the Crickets consisted of Curtis, Allison, Glen D. Hardin and Jerry Naylor. That year, the Crickets' version of the Gerry Goffin–Carole King song "Don't Ever Change" (Liberty Records), featuring Naylor on lead vocals, reached the top five in the British single charts. Also in 1962 they released Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets, an album with Bobby Vee on lead vocals. For their 1962 UK tour, Allison was temporarily out of the group because of commitments with the U.S. Air Force. In 1963, the Crickets hit the UK top 40 twice more, with the singles "My Little Girl" and "Don't Try to Change Me", the last of their recordings to reach the charts. The band continued to record. In 1964, the Crickets issued their version of the surf rock song "California Sun" for their album of the same title. Personnel changes were made over the years, with Curtis and Allison remaining relative constants. For the 1971 album Rockin' 50's Rock n' Roll (which consisted mostly of remakes of Holly-era material), the group consisted of Curtis, Allison and Doug Gilmore. For the 1973 album Bubblegum, Bop, Ballad and Boogies, the lineup featured Curtis, Alison, Hardin and bassist Ric Grech. Steven Krikkorian, later to record as the new wave artist Tonio K., joined the group as a vocalist shortly thereafter, as did guitarists Albert Lee and Nick van Maarth, replacing Hardin. The 1973 album Remnants and the 1974 album A Long Way from Lubbock featured the sextet of Allison, Curtis, Krikkorian, Grech, Lee and van Maarth. In 1978, the award-winning film The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey as Holly, presented an engaging but inaccurate depiction of the band's early years. Allison and Mauldin's names were altered to Jesse Charles and Ray Bob Simmons, respectively to avoid legal action due to their rights being sold to another film production that was also working on Holly's story. Niki Sullivan, Sonny Curtis, Bob Montgomery, Don Guess, and Larry Welborn were not portrayed in the film. The Crickets appreciated the film, but gave a thumbs down review and Allison was outraged by his fictional counterpart Charles' attitudes: vulgar, racist, alcoholic, and profane. 21st century ]] The Crickets released The Crickets and Their Buddies in 2004, featuring classics from all parts of their career, with performances by several prominent artists, including Eric Clapton, Rodney Crowell, Waylon Jennings, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Graham Nash, and Bobby Vee. The album was produced and mixed by Greg Ladanyi and included editing and additional mixes by Dave Carlock, Rob Hill, and Rogers Masson. For the album, the Crickets officially consisted of Allison, Curtis and Mauldin; former members Albert Lee (guitar) and Glen D. Hardin (keyboards) also played throughout, and one-time member Steven Krikkorian (now known as Tonio K.) was the lead vocalist on two tracks. On October 28, 2008, the Crickets were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. They performed "Peggy Sue", "Not Fade Away" and "That'll Be the Day" at the ceremony, accompanied by guest guitarist Keith Richards. In 2011, Allison was still touring with Sonny Curtis, a childhood friend and bandmate of Holly's, on vocals and guitar. On April 14, 2012, the Crickets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by a special committee charged with correcting the omission of the band with Holly when he was first inducted in 1986. The inducted members were Jerry Allison, Sonny Curtis, Joe B. Mauldin, and Niki Sullivan. The group was unable to attend the ceremony because Mauldin was ill. Mauldin died from cancer on February 7, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee. On February 6, 2016, "The Crickets & Buddies" performed in Clear Lake, Iowa, at the Surf Ballroom, the site of Holly's last performance. Members of previous lineups appeared, including Sonny Curtis, Glen D. Hardin, Albert Lee, Tommy Allsup, Gordon Payne and others. After the show Allison announced that it was the group's final performance. Members Timeline TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocal value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Albums Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1960 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1958 LineData = at:11/27/1957 color:black layer:back at:04/20/1958 color:black layer:back at:12/04/1960 color:black layer:back at:03/01/1962 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1963 color:black layer:back at:02/01/1964 color:black layer:back at:05/01/1965 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1971 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1973 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1974 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1974 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1993 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:black layer:back at:07/27/2004 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Holly text:"Buddy Holly" bar:Sinks text:"Earl Sinks" bar:Naylor text:"Jerry Naylor" bar:Sullivan text:"Niki Sullivan" bar:Curtis text:"Sonny Curtis" bar:Payne text:"Gordon Payne" bar:Allison text:"J.I. Allison" bar:Mauldin text:"Joe B. Mauldin" bar:Hardin text:"Glen D. Hardin" PlotData = width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Holly from:02/01/1957 till:08/01/1958 color:Vocal bar:Holly from:02/01/1957 till:08/01/1958 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Sinks from:08/01/1958 till:04/01/1960 color:Vocal bar:Naylor from:04/01/1960 till:12/01/1965 color:Vocal bar:Payne from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1994 color:Vocal bar:Payne from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1994 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Curtis from:08/01/1958 till:03/07/1959 color:Guitar bar:Curtis from:04/01/1959 till:05/01/1960 color:Guitar bar:Curtis from:10/01/1962 till:12/01/1965 color:Guitar bar:Curtis from:12/01/1965 till:01/01/1985 color:Vocal bar:Curtis from:12/01/1965 till:01/01/1985 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Curtis from:01/01/1994 till:end color:Vocal bar:Curtis from:01/01/1994 till:end color:Guitar width:3 bar:Sullivan from:02/01/1957 till:02/01/1958 color:Guitar bar:Mauldin from:01/01/1957 till:05/01/1960 color:Bass bar:Mauldin from:01/01/1976 till:02/10/2015 color:Bass bar:Allison from:02/01/1957 till:end color:Drums bar:Hardin from:01/01/1962 till:01/01/1972 color:Keyboard bar:Hardin from:01/01/1962 till:01/01/1970 color:Bass width:3 bar:Hardin from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:Keyboard }} Discography * The "Chirping" Crickets (1957, with Buddy Holly) * The Sound of the Crickets (1958, single EP with Buddy Holly, on Coral Records) * Buddy Holly (1958, under Buddy Holly) * That'll Be the Day (1958, under Buddy Holly) * In Style with the Crickets (1960) * Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets (1962) * Something Old, Something New (1963) * California Sun (1964) * Rock Reflections (1971) * Remnants (1973) * Bubblegum, Pop, Ballads & Boogie (1973) * Long Way from Lubbock (1975) (With Albert Lee) * Back in Style (1975) * 3 Piece (1988) * T Shirt (1988) * Cover to Cover (1995) * The Original (1996) * Rockin (2000) * Too Much Monday Morning * Crickets and Their Buddies (2004) * About Time Too (with Mike Berry) * Double Exposure (2015, recorded 1992–1993) Singles Music videos References External links * * Category:Doo-wop groups Category:Musical groups from Lubbock, Texas Category:Buddy Holly Category:Music of Lubbock, Texas Category:Liberty Records artists Category:Musical groups established in 1957 Category:Rock music groups from Texas Category:Rock and roll music groups Category:1957 establishments in Texas